The 3 YAGAS: Tarja, Sashenka, ArushkaIf you know a little bit about Russian Floklore, or if you've read Women who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, you'll be aware that Baba-Yaga is a very important figure of the Russian/Slavic mythology. The name Baba-Yaga could be translated as 'Grandma Snake'. She's an old crone who lives deep in the forest and she can be as benevolent as she can be cruel. She's very unpredictable.

We wanted to transpose this legend into the Kurganova background. And so, among other things, the Yaga Soul Weavers are a cast of sorceresses that can bend the primal forces of nature.Their powers are greatly amplified by cybernetic enhancements.

One of their key skill is that they are able to unleash the power of the 'were' gene. This gene was discovered by Kurganova scientists and is the key to turn people in were-animals (like were-wolves or were-bears, for example). And so, the Yaga sorceresses are able to turn some of the very rigid and disciplined Kurganova Troops into furious and unstoppable wild beasts.

The Yaga Soul Weaver channel the forces of ancient spirits through their cyber-enhanced shamanism.

On the battlefield the Yaga Soul Weavers generally work as a team, each of them serving as a relay and an amplifier of the shamanic forces.

The Kurganovas are torn between the chaos of their paganistic roots and the rigid order of their modern high-tech ultra hierarchic society.

The Yaga Soul Weavers stand in the middle of this perpetual turmoil. The powers that be tolerate their existence because the immense power they bring to battle, but at the same time, distrust these unpredictable forces, fearing that they could overthrow the current regime.

So the Soul Weavers are viewed with mixed feelings of respect, fear and disdain.

Baba YagaThere is no doubt that Baba Yaga is one of the most respected and feared character in the high spheres of the Kurgan power.

Nobody knows exactly what her edge is.

Some even say that she was never actually born, and that she was there haunting the woods and weaving her witchcraft form the very first days of human history.

The thing on which everyone agrees is that her shamanic powers are immense.

For generations, she has been in charge of supervising the training of the young Soul Weavers. No one exactly knows how they are trained, or even why they are chosen, but the Yaga Matriarch and her acolytes are always roaming around, from large cities to the remotest villages to find gifted apprentices. They take the young girls with them when they are between 10 and 13 years of age, and they are not seen again for another 10 years. When they reappear, the little girls are grown-up women who radiate the Yaga amazing powers and aura.

The old Baba Yaga very much knows that she is perceived as a necessary evil by most of the Kurgan elite who shun her ancient powers. And so, it is often wondered why she so freely associates with them and support their military efforts.

But Baba Yaga sees through the fabric of time, and her motives are most likely too complex for most humans to understand...

THE KURGANOVA SHOCK TROOPS (KST)Led by the ultra-powerful Kurganov family, the Kurganova Shock Troops are a highly organized and disciplined army with underlying Eastern European themes. They also benefit from the support of strong cyber-enhanced paganic magic. This, among other things, allows them to 'waken' the 'were' gene that can transform some members of the Kurganova army into giant were-wolves or were-bears.

Background

THE IRON EMPIRE (IE)The Iron Empire is made up of exiled people that have somehow stumbled upon necromantic knowledge from alien pharaonic gods. They combine Prussian and Germanic influences with some kind of Aegyptian cyber necromancy that allow them to raise the dead and create bio-mechanical aberrations.

Background

THE IRON EMPIRE (IE)The Iron Empire is made up of exiled people that have somehow stumbled upon necromantic knowledge from alien pharaonic gods. They combine Prussian and Germanic influences with some kind of Aegyptian cyber necromancy that allow them to raise the dead and create bio-mechanical aberrations.

Background

THE IRON EMPIRE (IE)The Iron Empire is made up of exiled people that have somehow stumbled upon necromantic knowledge from alien pharaonic gods. They combine Prussian and Germanic influences with some kind of Aegyptian cyber necromancy that allow them to raise the dead and create bio-mechanical aberrations.